SCENE ONE
The open country.
Enter GAVESTON mourning , JAMES and other ATTENDANTS OF PEMBROKE . GAVESTON :
O treacherous Warwick, thus to wrong thy friend! JAMES :
I see it is your life these arms pursue. GAVESTON :
Weaponless must I fall, and die in bands?
O, must this day be period of my life,
Centre of all my bliss? And ye be men,
Speed to the king.
Enter WARWICK and SOLDIERS . WARWICK :
My Lord of Pembroke's men,
Strive you no longer: I will have that Gaveston. JAMES :
Your lordship doth dishonour to yourself,
And wrong our lord, your honourable friend. WARWICK :
No, James, it is my country's cause I follow.
Go, take the villain! Soldiers, come away;
We'll make quick work. Commend me to your master,
My friend, and tell him that I watch'd it well.
Come, let thy shadow parley with King Edward. GAVESTON :
Treacherous earl, shall not I see the king? WARWICK :
The king of heaven perhaps, no other king. Away!
Exeunt WARWICK and SOLDIERS with GAVESTON . JAMES :
Come, fellows: it booted not for us to strive:
We will in haste go certify our lord.
Exeunt .
SCENE TWO
Near Boroughbridge in Yorkshire .
Enter KING EDWARD , the YOUNGER SPENSER , BALDOCK , NOBLEMEN of the king's side, and SOLDIERS with drums and fifes . KING EDWARD :
I long to hear an answer from the barons
Touching my friend, my dearest Gaveston.
Ah, Spenser, not the riches of my realm
Can ransom him! Ah, he is mark'd to die!
I know the malice of the younger Mortimer.
Warwick I know is rough, and Lancaster
Inexorable; and I shall never see
My lovely Pierce, my Gaveston again.
The barons overbear me with their pride. YOUNGER SPENSER :
Were I King Edward, England's sovereign,
Son to the lovely Eleanor of Spain,
Great Edward Longshanks' issue, would I bear
These braves, this rage, and suffer uncontroll'd
These barons thus to beard me in my land,
In mine own realm? My lord, pardon my speech:
Did you retain your father's magnanimity,
Did you regard the honour of your name,
You would not suffer thus your majesty
Be counterbuff'd of your nobility.
Strike off their heads, and let them preach on poles.
No doubt, such lessons they will teach the rest,
As by their preachments they will profit much,
And learn obedience to their lawful king. KING EDWARD :
Yea, gentle Spenser, we have been too mild,
Too kind to them; but now have drawn our sword,
And, if they send me not my Gaveston,
We'll steel it on their crest, and poll their tops. BALDOCK :
This haught resolve becomes your majesty,
Not to be tied to their affection,
As though your highness were a school-boy still.
And must be aw'd and govern'd like a child.
Enter the ELDER SPENSER with his truncheon, and SOLDIERS . ELDER SPENSER :
Long live my sovereign, the noble Edward,
In peace triumphant, fortunate in wars! KING EDWARD :
Welcome, old man. Com'st thou in Edward's aid?
Then tell thy prince of whence and what thou art. ELDER SPENSER :
Lo, with a band of bowmen and of pikes,
Brown bills and targeteers, four hundred strong,
Sworn to defend King Edward's royal right,
I come in person to your majesty;
Spenser, the father of Hugh Spenser there,
Bound to your highness everlastingly
For favours done, in him, unto us all. KING EDWARD :
Thy father, Spenser? YOUNGER SPENSER :
True, an it like your grace,
That pours, in lieu of all your goodness shown,
His life, my lord, before your princely feet. KING EDWARD :
Welcome ten thousand times, old man, again!
Spenser, this love, this kindness to thy king,
Argues thy noble mind and disposition.
Spenser, I here create thee Earl of Wiltshire,
And daily will enrich thee with our favour,
That, as the sunshine, shall reflect o'er thee.
Beside, the more to manifest our love,
Because we hear Lord Bruce doth sell his land,
And that the Mortimers are in hand withal,
Thou shalt have crowns of us t'outbid the barons;
And, Spenser, spare them not, but lay it on.
Soldiers, a largess, and thrice-welcome all! YOUNGER SPENSER :
My lord, here comes the queen.
Enter QUEEN ISABELLA , PRINCE EDWARD , and LEVUNE , a Frenchman . KING EDWARD :
Madam, what news? QUEEN ISABELLA :
News of dishonour, lord, and discontent.
Our friend Levune, faithful and full of trust,
Informeth us, by letters and by words,
That Lord Valois our brother, King of France,
Because your highness hath been slack in homage,
Hath seized Normandy into his hands.
These be the letters, this the messenger. KING EDWARD :
Welcome, Levune. Tush, Sib, if this be all,
Valois and I will soon be friends again.
But to my Gaveston: shall I never see,
Never behold thee now! Madam, in this matter
We will employ you and your little son;
You shall go parley with the King of France.
Boy, see you bear you bravely to the king,
And do your message with a majesty. PRINCE EDWARD :
Commit not to my youth things of more weight
Than fits a prince so young as I to bear.
And fear not, lord and father, heaven's great beams
On Atlas' shoulder shall not lie more safe
Than shall your charge committed to my trust. QUEEN ISABELLA :
Ay, boy, this towardness makes thy mother fear
Thou are not mark'd to many days on earth! KING EDWARD :
Madam, we will that you with speed be shipp'd,
And this our son; Levune shall follow you
With all the haste we can despatch him hence.
Choose of our lords to bear you company,
And go in peace; leave us in wars at home. QUEEN ISABELLA :
Unnatural wars, where subjects brave their king:
God end them once! My lord, I take my leave,
To make my preparation for France.
Exit with PRINCE EDWARD .
Enter ARUNDEL . KING EDWARD :
What, Lord Arundel, dost thou come alone? ARUNDEL :
Yea, my good lord, for Gaveston is dead. KING EDWARD :
Ah, traitors, have they put my friend to death?
Tell me, Arundel, died he ere thou cam'st,
Or didst thou see my friend to take his death? ARUNDEL :
Neither, my lord, for, as he was surpris'd,
Begirt with weapons and with enemies round,
I did your highness' message to them all,
Demanding him of them, entreating rather,
And said, upon the honour of my name,
That I would undertake to carry him
Unto your highness, and to bring him back. KING EDWARD :
And, tell me, would the rebels deny me that? YOUNGER SPENSER :
Proud recreants! KING EDWARD :
Yea, Spenser, traitors all! ARUNDEL :
I found them at the first inexorable.
The Earl of Warwick would not bide the hearing,
Mortimer hardly; Pembroke and Lancaster
Spake least; and when they flatly had denied,
Refusing to receive me pledge for him,
The Earl of Pembroke mildly thus bespake:
'My lords, because our sovereign sends for him,
And promiseth he shall be safe return'd,
I will this undertake, to have him hence,
And see him re-deliver'd to your hands.' KING EDWARD :
Well, and how fortunes that he came not? YOUNGER SPENSER :
Some treason or some villainy was cause. ARUNDEL :
The Earl of Warwick seiz'd him on his way;
For, being deliver'd unto Pembroke's men,
Their lord rode home, thinking his prisoner safe,
But, ere he came, Warwick in ambush lay,
And bare him to his death, and in a trench
Strake off his head, and march'd unto the camp. YOUNGER SPENSER :
A bloody part, flatly 'gainst law of arms! KING EDWARD :
O, shall I speak, or shall I sigh and die! YOUNGER SPENSER :
My lord, refer your vengeance to the sword
Upon these barons! Hearten up your men;
Let them not unreveng'd murder your friends!
Advance your standard, Edward, in the field,
And march to fire them from their starting-holes. KING EDWARD ( kneeling ):
By earth, the common mother of us all,
By heaven, and all the moving orbs thereof,
By this right hand, and by my father's sword,
And all the honours 'longing to my crown,
I will have heads and lives for him as many
As I have manors, castles, towns, and towers!
Rises .
Treacherous Warwick! traitorous Mortimer!
If I be England's king, in lakes of gore
Your headless trunks, your bodies will I trail,
That you may drink your fill, and quaff in blood,
And stain my royal standard with the same,
That so my bloody colours may suggest
Remembrance of revenge immortally
On your accursed traitorous progeny,
You villains that have slain my Gaveston!
And in this place of honour and of trust,
Spenser, sweet Spenser, I adopt thee here;
And merely of our love we do create thee
Earl of Gloucester and Lord Chamberlain,
Despite of times, despite of enemies. YOUNGER SPENSER :
My lord, here's in a messenger from the barons
Desires access unto your majesty. KING EDWARD :
Admit him near.
Enter HERALD with his coat of arms . HERALD :
Long live King Edward, England's lawful lord! KING EDWARD :
So wish not they, I wis, that sent thee hither.
Thou com'st from Mortimer and his complices:
A ranker rout of rebels never was.
Well, say thy message. HERALD :
The barons, up in arms, by me salute
Your highness with long life and happiness;
And bid me say, as plainer to your grace,
That if without effusion of blood
You will this grief have ease and remedy,
That from your princely person you remove
This Spenser, as a putrifying branch
That deads the royal vine, whose golden leaves
Empale your princely head, your diadem,
Whose brightness such pernicious upstarts dim,
Say they, and lovingly advise your grace
To cherish virtue and nobility,
And have old servitors in high esteem,
And shake off smooth dissembling flatterers.
This granted, they, their honours, and their lives,
Are to your highness vow'd and consecrate. YOUNGER SPENSER :
Ah, traitors! Will they still display their pride? KING EDWARD :
Away! Tarry no answer, but be gone!
Rebels, will they appoint their sovereign
His sports, his pleasures, and his company?
Yet, ere thou go, see how I do divorce
Embraces YOUNGER SPENSER .
Spenser from me. Now get thee to thy lords,
And tell them I will come to chastise them
For murdering Gaveston: hie thee, get thee gone!
Edward, with fire and sword, follows at thy heels.
Exit HERALD .
My lord, perceive you how these rebels swell?
Soldiers, good hearts! Defend your sovereign's right,
For now, even now, we march to make them stoop.
Away!
Exeunt. Alarums, excursions, a great fight, and a retreat sounded, within .
SCENE THREE
The battlefield, Boronghbridge .
Re-enter KING EDWARD , the ELDER SPENSER , the YOUNGER SPENSER , BALDOCK , and NOBLEMEN of the king's side . KING EDWARD :
Why do we sound retreat? Upon them, lords!
This day I shall pour vengeance with my sword
On those proud rebels that are up in arms,
And do confront and countermand their king. YOUNGER SPENSER :
I doubt it not, my lord; right will prevail. ELDER SPENSER :
'Tis not amiss, my liege, for either part
To breathe a while. Our men, with sweat and dust
All chok'd well near, begin to faint for heat,
And this retire refresheth horse and man. YOUNGER SPENSER :
Here come the rebels.
Enter the YOUNGER MORTIMER , LANCASTER , WARWICK , PEMBROKE , and others . YOUNGER MORTIMER :
Look, Lancaster, yonder is Edward
Among his flatterers. LANCASTER :
And there let him be,
Till he pay dearly for their company. WARWICK :
And shall, or Warwick's sword shall smite in vain. KING EDWARD :
What, rebels, do you shrink and sound retreat? YOUNGER MORTIMER :
No, Edward, no; thy flatterers faint and fly. LANCASTER :
Thou'd best betimes forsake them and their trains,
For they'll betray thee, traitors as they are. YOUNGER SPENSER :
Traitor on thy face, rebellious Lancaster! PEMBROKE :
Away, base upstart! Brav'st thou nobles thus? ELDER SPENSER :
A noble attempt and honourable deed,
Is it not, trow ye, to assemble aid
And levy arms against your lawful king? KING EDWARD :
For which, ere long, their heads shall satisfy
T' appease the wrath of their offended king. YOUNGER MORTIMER :
Then, Edward, thou wilt fight it to the last,
And rather bathe thy sword in subjects' blood
Than banish that pernicious company? KING EDWARD :
Ay, traitors all, rather than thus be brav'd,
Make England's civil towns huge heaps of stones,
And ploughs to go about our palace-gates. WARWICK :
A desperate and unnatural resolution!
Alarum! To the fight!
Saint George for England, and the barons' right! KING EDWARD :
Saint George for England, and King Edward's right!
Alarums. Exeunt the two parties severally .
Re-enter KING EDWARD and his FOLLOWERS , with the BARONS and KENT captive . KING EDWARD :
Now, lusty lords, now not by chance of war,
But justice of the quarrel and the cause,
Vail'd is your pride. Methinks you hang the heads;
But we'll advance them, traitors. Now 'tis time
To be aveng'd on you for all your braves,
And for the murder of my dearest friend,
To whom right well you knew our soul was knit,
Good Pierce of Gaveston, my sweet favourite.
Ah, rebels, recreants, you made him away! KENT :
Brother, in regard to thee and of thy land,
Did they remove that flatterer from thy throne. KING EDWARD :
So, sir, you have spoke: away, avoid our presence!
Exit KENT .
Accursed wretches, was't in regard of us,
When we had sent our messenger to request
He might be spar'd to come to speak with us,
And Pembroke undertook for his return,
That thou, proud Warwick, watch'd the prisoner,
Poor Pierce, and headed him 'gainst law of arms?
For which thy head shall overlook the rest
As much as thou in rage outwent'st the rest. WARWICK :
Tyrant, I scorn thy threats and menaces;
'Tis but temporal that thou canst inflict. LANCASTER :
The worst is death; and better die to live
Than live in infamy under such a king. KING EDWARD :
Away with them, my lord of Winchester!
These lusty leaders, Warwick and Lancaster,
I charge you roundly, off with both their heads!
Away! WARWICK :
Farewell, vain world! LANCASTER :
Sweet Mortimer, farewell! YOUNGER MORTIMER :
England, unkind to thy nobility,
Groan for this grief! Behold how thou art maim'd! KING EDWARD :
Go, take that haughty Mortimer to the Tower,
There see him safe bestow'd; and, for the rest,
Do speedy execution on them all.
Be gone! YOUNGER MORTIMER :
What, Mortimer! Can ragged stony walls
Immure thy virtue that aspires to heaven?
No, Edward, England's scourge, it may not be;
Mortimer's hope surmounts his fortune far.
The CAPTIVE BARONS are led off . KING EDWARD :
Sound drums and trumpets! March with me, my friends.
Edward this day hath crown'd him king anew.
Exeunt all except the YOUNGER SPENSER , LEVUNE , and BALDOCK . YOUNGER SPENSER :
Levune, the trust that we repose in thee
Begets the quiet of King Edward's land.
Therefore be gone in haste, and with advice
Bestow that treasure on the lords of France,
That, therewith all enchanted, like the guard
That suffer'd Jove to pass in showers of gold
To Danaë, all aid may be denied
To Isabel the queen, that now in France
Makes friends, to cross the seas with her young son,
And step into his father's regiment. LEVUNE :
That's it these barons and the subtle queen
Long levell'd at. BALDOCK :
Yea, but, Levune, thou seest
These barons lay their heads on blocks together:
What they intend, the hangman frustrates clean. LEVUNE :
Have you no doubts, my lords. I'll clap so close
Among the lords of France with England's gold,
That Isabel shall make her plaints in vain,
And France shall be obdurate with her tears. YOUNGER SPENSER :
Then make for France amain; Levune, away!
Proclaim King Edward's wars and victories.
Exeunt .
The open country.
Enter GAVESTON mourning , JAMES and other ATTENDANTS OF PEMBROKE . GAVESTON :
O treacherous Warwick, thus to wrong thy friend! JAMES :
I see it is your life these arms pursue. GAVESTON :
Weaponless must I fall, and die in bands?
O, must this day be period of my life,
Centre of all my bliss? And ye be men,
Speed to the king.
Enter WARWICK and SOLDIERS . WARWICK :
My Lord of Pembroke's men,
Strive you no longer: I will have that Gaveston. JAMES :
Your lordship doth dishonour to yourself,
And wrong our lord, your honourable friend. WARWICK :
No, James, it is my country's cause I follow.
Go, take the villain! Soldiers, come away;
We'll make quick work. Commend me to your master,
My friend, and tell him that I watch'd it well.
Come, let thy shadow parley with King Edward. GAVESTON :
Treacherous earl, shall not I see the king? WARWICK :
The king of heaven perhaps, no other king. Away!
Exeunt WARWICK and SOLDIERS with GAVESTON . JAMES :
Come, fellows: it booted not for us to strive:
We will in haste go certify our lord.
Exeunt .
SCENE TWO
Near Boroughbridge in Yorkshire .
Enter KING EDWARD , the YOUNGER SPENSER , BALDOCK , NOBLEMEN of the king's side, and SOLDIERS with drums and fifes . KING EDWARD :
I long to hear an answer from the barons
Touching my friend, my dearest Gaveston.
Ah, Spenser, not the riches of my realm
Can ransom him! Ah, he is mark'd to die!
I know the malice of the younger Mortimer.
Warwick I know is rough, and Lancaster
Inexorable; and I shall never see
My lovely Pierce, my Gaveston again.
The barons overbear me with their pride. YOUNGER SPENSER :
Were I King Edward, England's sovereign,
Son to the lovely Eleanor of Spain,
Great Edward Longshanks' issue, would I bear
These braves, this rage, and suffer uncontroll'd
These barons thus to beard me in my land,
In mine own realm? My lord, pardon my speech:
Did you retain your father's magnanimity,
Did you regard the honour of your name,
You would not suffer thus your majesty
Be counterbuff'd of your nobility.
Strike off their heads, and let them preach on poles.
No doubt, such lessons they will teach the rest,
As by their preachments they will profit much,
And learn obedience to their lawful king. KING EDWARD :
Yea, gentle Spenser, we have been too mild,
Too kind to them; but now have drawn our sword,
And, if they send me not my Gaveston,
We'll steel it on their crest, and poll their tops. BALDOCK :
This haught resolve becomes your majesty,
Not to be tied to their affection,
As though your highness were a school-boy still.
And must be aw'd and govern'd like a child.
Enter the ELDER SPENSER with his truncheon, and SOLDIERS . ELDER SPENSER :
Long live my sovereign, the noble Edward,
In peace triumphant, fortunate in wars! KING EDWARD :
Welcome, old man. Com'st thou in Edward's aid?
Then tell thy prince of whence and what thou art. ELDER SPENSER :
Lo, with a band of bowmen and of pikes,
Brown bills and targeteers, four hundred strong,
Sworn to defend King Edward's royal right,
I come in person to your majesty;
Spenser, the father of Hugh Spenser there,
Bound to your highness everlastingly
For favours done, in him, unto us all. KING EDWARD :
Thy father, Spenser? YOUNGER SPENSER :
True, an it like your grace,
That pours, in lieu of all your goodness shown,
His life, my lord, before your princely feet. KING EDWARD :
Welcome ten thousand times, old man, again!
Spenser, this love, this kindness to thy king,
Argues thy noble mind and disposition.
Spenser, I here create thee Earl of Wiltshire,
And daily will enrich thee with our favour,
That, as the sunshine, shall reflect o'er thee.
Beside, the more to manifest our love,
Because we hear Lord Bruce doth sell his land,
And that the Mortimers are in hand withal,
Thou shalt have crowns of us t'outbid the barons;
And, Spenser, spare them not, but lay it on.
Soldiers, a largess, and thrice-welcome all! YOUNGER SPENSER :
My lord, here comes the queen.
Enter QUEEN ISABELLA , PRINCE EDWARD , and LEVUNE , a Frenchman . KING EDWARD :
Madam, what news? QUEEN ISABELLA :
News of dishonour, lord, and discontent.
Our friend Levune, faithful and full of trust,
Informeth us, by letters and by words,
That Lord Valois our brother, King of France,
Because your highness hath been slack in homage,
Hath seized Normandy into his hands.
These be the letters, this the messenger. KING EDWARD :
Welcome, Levune. Tush, Sib, if this be all,
Valois and I will soon be friends again.
But to my Gaveston: shall I never see,
Never behold thee now! Madam, in this matter
We will employ you and your little son;
You shall go parley with the King of France.
Boy, see you bear you bravely to the king,
And do your message with a majesty. PRINCE EDWARD :
Commit not to my youth things of more weight
Than fits a prince so young as I to bear.
And fear not, lord and father, heaven's great beams
On Atlas' shoulder shall not lie more safe
Than shall your charge committed to my trust. QUEEN ISABELLA :
Ay, boy, this towardness makes thy mother fear
Thou are not mark'd to many days on earth! KING EDWARD :
Madam, we will that you with speed be shipp'd,
And this our son; Levune shall follow you
With all the haste we can despatch him hence.
Choose of our lords to bear you company,
And go in peace; leave us in wars at home. QUEEN ISABELLA :
Unnatural wars, where subjects brave their king:
God end them once! My lord, I take my leave,
To make my preparation for France.
Exit with PRINCE EDWARD .
Enter ARUNDEL . KING EDWARD :
What, Lord Arundel, dost thou come alone? ARUNDEL :
Yea, my good lord, for Gaveston is dead. KING EDWARD :
Ah, traitors, have they put my friend to death?
Tell me, Arundel, died he ere thou cam'st,
Or didst thou see my friend to take his death? ARUNDEL :
Neither, my lord, for, as he was surpris'd,
Begirt with weapons and with enemies round,
I did your highness' message to them all,
Demanding him of them, entreating rather,
And said, upon the honour of my name,
That I would undertake to carry him
Unto your highness, and to bring him back. KING EDWARD :
And, tell me, would the rebels deny me that? YOUNGER SPENSER :
Proud recreants! KING EDWARD :
Yea, Spenser, traitors all! ARUNDEL :
I found them at the first inexorable.
The Earl of Warwick would not bide the hearing,
Mortimer hardly; Pembroke and Lancaster
Spake least; and when they flatly had denied,
Refusing to receive me pledge for him,
The Earl of Pembroke mildly thus bespake:
'My lords, because our sovereign sends for him,
And promiseth he shall be safe return'd,
I will this undertake, to have him hence,
And see him re-deliver'd to your hands.' KING EDWARD :
Well, and how fortunes that he came not? YOUNGER SPENSER :
Some treason or some villainy was cause. ARUNDEL :
The Earl of Warwick seiz'd him on his way;
For, being deliver'd unto Pembroke's men,
Their lord rode home, thinking his prisoner safe,
But, ere he came, Warwick in ambush lay,
And bare him to his death, and in a trench
Strake off his head, and march'd unto the camp. YOUNGER SPENSER :
A bloody part, flatly 'gainst law of arms! KING EDWARD :
O, shall I speak, or shall I sigh and die! YOUNGER SPENSER :
My lord, refer your vengeance to the sword
Upon these barons! Hearten up your men;
Let them not unreveng'd murder your friends!
Advance your standard, Edward, in the field,
And march to fire them from their starting-holes. KING EDWARD ( kneeling ):
By earth, the common mother of us all,
By heaven, and all the moving orbs thereof,
By this right hand, and by my father's sword,
And all the honours 'longing to my crown,
I will have heads and lives for him as many
As I have manors, castles, towns, and towers!
Rises .
Treacherous Warwick! traitorous Mortimer!
If I be England's king, in lakes of gore
Your headless trunks, your bodies will I trail,
That you may drink your fill, and quaff in blood,
And stain my royal standard with the same,
That so my bloody colours may suggest
Remembrance of revenge immortally
On your accursed traitorous progeny,
You villains that have slain my Gaveston!
And in this place of honour and of trust,
Spenser, sweet Spenser, I adopt thee here;
And merely of our love we do create thee
Earl of Gloucester and Lord Chamberlain,
Despite of times, despite of enemies. YOUNGER SPENSER :
My lord, here's in a messenger from the barons
Desires access unto your majesty. KING EDWARD :
Admit him near.
Enter HERALD with his coat of arms . HERALD :
Long live King Edward, England's lawful lord! KING EDWARD :
So wish not they, I wis, that sent thee hither.
Thou com'st from Mortimer and his complices:
A ranker rout of rebels never was.
Well, say thy message. HERALD :
The barons, up in arms, by me salute
Your highness with long life and happiness;
And bid me say, as plainer to your grace,
That if without effusion of blood
You will this grief have ease and remedy,
That from your princely person you remove
This Spenser, as a putrifying branch
That deads the royal vine, whose golden leaves
Empale your princely head, your diadem,
Whose brightness such pernicious upstarts dim,
Say they, and lovingly advise your grace
To cherish virtue and nobility,
And have old servitors in high esteem,
And shake off smooth dissembling flatterers.
This granted, they, their honours, and their lives,
Are to your highness vow'd and consecrate. YOUNGER SPENSER :
Ah, traitors! Will they still display their pride? KING EDWARD :
Away! Tarry no answer, but be gone!
Rebels, will they appoint their sovereign
His sports, his pleasures, and his company?
Yet, ere thou go, see how I do divorce
Embraces YOUNGER SPENSER .
Spenser from me. Now get thee to thy lords,
And tell them I will come to chastise them
For murdering Gaveston: hie thee, get thee gone!
Edward, with fire and sword, follows at thy heels.
Exit HERALD .
My lord, perceive you how these rebels swell?
Soldiers, good hearts! Defend your sovereign's right,
For now, even now, we march to make them stoop.
Away!
Exeunt. Alarums, excursions, a great fight, and a retreat sounded, within .
SCENE THREE
The battlefield, Boronghbridge .
Re-enter KING EDWARD , the ELDER SPENSER , the YOUNGER SPENSER , BALDOCK , and NOBLEMEN of the king's side . KING EDWARD :
Why do we sound retreat? Upon them, lords!
This day I shall pour vengeance with my sword
On those proud rebels that are up in arms,
And do confront and countermand their king. YOUNGER SPENSER :
I doubt it not, my lord; right will prevail. ELDER SPENSER :
'Tis not amiss, my liege, for either part
To breathe a while. Our men, with sweat and dust
All chok'd well near, begin to faint for heat,
And this retire refresheth horse and man. YOUNGER SPENSER :
Here come the rebels.
Enter the YOUNGER MORTIMER , LANCASTER , WARWICK , PEMBROKE , and others . YOUNGER MORTIMER :
Look, Lancaster, yonder is Edward
Among his flatterers. LANCASTER :
And there let him be,
Till he pay dearly for their company. WARWICK :
And shall, or Warwick's sword shall smite in vain. KING EDWARD :
What, rebels, do you shrink and sound retreat? YOUNGER MORTIMER :
No, Edward, no; thy flatterers faint and fly. LANCASTER :
Thou'd best betimes forsake them and their trains,
For they'll betray thee, traitors as they are. YOUNGER SPENSER :
Traitor on thy face, rebellious Lancaster! PEMBROKE :
Away, base upstart! Brav'st thou nobles thus? ELDER SPENSER :
A noble attempt and honourable deed,
Is it not, trow ye, to assemble aid
And levy arms against your lawful king? KING EDWARD :
For which, ere long, their heads shall satisfy
T' appease the wrath of their offended king. YOUNGER MORTIMER :
Then, Edward, thou wilt fight it to the last,
And rather bathe thy sword in subjects' blood
Than banish that pernicious company? KING EDWARD :
Ay, traitors all, rather than thus be brav'd,
Make England's civil towns huge heaps of stones,
And ploughs to go about our palace-gates. WARWICK :
A desperate and unnatural resolution!
Alarum! To the fight!
Saint George for England, and the barons' right! KING EDWARD :
Saint George for England, and King Edward's right!
Alarums. Exeunt the two parties severally .
Re-enter KING EDWARD and his FOLLOWERS , with the BARONS and KENT captive . KING EDWARD :
Now, lusty lords, now not by chance of war,
But justice of the quarrel and the cause,
Vail'd is your pride. Methinks you hang the heads;
But we'll advance them, traitors. Now 'tis time
To be aveng'd on you for all your braves,
And for the murder of my dearest friend,
To whom right well you knew our soul was knit,
Good Pierce of Gaveston, my sweet favourite.
Ah, rebels, recreants, you made him away! KENT :
Brother, in regard to thee and of thy land,
Did they remove that flatterer from thy throne. KING EDWARD :
So, sir, you have spoke: away, avoid our presence!
Exit KENT .
Accursed wretches, was't in regard of us,
When we had sent our messenger to request
He might be spar'd to come to speak with us,
And Pembroke undertook for his return,
That thou, proud Warwick, watch'd the prisoner,
Poor Pierce, and headed him 'gainst law of arms?
For which thy head shall overlook the rest
As much as thou in rage outwent'st the rest. WARWICK :
Tyrant, I scorn thy threats and menaces;
'Tis but temporal that thou canst inflict. LANCASTER :
The worst is death; and better die to live
Than live in infamy under such a king. KING EDWARD :
Away with them, my lord of Winchester!
These lusty leaders, Warwick and Lancaster,
I charge you roundly, off with both their heads!
Away! WARWICK :
Farewell, vain world! LANCASTER :
Sweet Mortimer, farewell! YOUNGER MORTIMER :
England, unkind to thy nobility,
Groan for this grief! Behold how thou art maim'd! KING EDWARD :
Go, take that haughty Mortimer to the Tower,
There see him safe bestow'd; and, for the rest,
Do speedy execution on them all.
Be gone! YOUNGER MORTIMER :
What, Mortimer! Can ragged stony walls
Immure thy virtue that aspires to heaven?
No, Edward, England's scourge, it may not be;
Mortimer's hope surmounts his fortune far.
The CAPTIVE BARONS are led off . KING EDWARD :
Sound drums and trumpets! March with me, my friends.
Edward this day hath crown'd him king anew.
Exeunt all except the YOUNGER SPENSER , LEVUNE , and BALDOCK . YOUNGER SPENSER :
Levune, the trust that we repose in thee
Begets the quiet of King Edward's land.
Therefore be gone in haste, and with advice
Bestow that treasure on the lords of France,
That, therewith all enchanted, like the guard
That suffer'd Jove to pass in showers of gold
To Danaë, all aid may be denied
To Isabel the queen, that now in France
Makes friends, to cross the seas with her young son,
And step into his father's regiment. LEVUNE :
That's it these barons and the subtle queen
Long levell'd at. BALDOCK :
Yea, but, Levune, thou seest
These barons lay their heads on blocks together:
What they intend, the hangman frustrates clean. LEVUNE :
Have you no doubts, my lords. I'll clap so close
Among the lords of France with England's gold,
That Isabel shall make her plaints in vain,
And France shall be obdurate with her tears. YOUNGER SPENSER :
Then make for France amain; Levune, away!
Proclaim King Edward's wars and victories.
Exeunt .
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